My husband seems to be a master at finding all the good stuff on Craigslist. Yesterday he scored this kid size kayak! Woot. He surprised miss P with it this morning. We headed right out for a bit of messing about in boats. It was the perfect morning. Not too hot, not yet sunny, and no one else on the water.
I hope you are having a fun weekend.
Family Vacation
We had a short family get away last week for the fourth. M has an internship this summer over on the west coast of the state and we had been too busy to visit him until the holiday weekend. It is nice that he is SO CLOSE to the lake this summer. I know he is enjoying that.Miss P got to use her new binoculars!
There was a lot of rock skipping and searching for perfect skipping rocks,
some dune play,
and a bit of general splashing around.
We also saw an awesome fireworks show in town.We had so much fun at the beach that we hardly noticed there was no power or internet in M's apartment. His neighborhood was the last to be restored after a storm earlier last week.I hope we make it back for another visit before the summer is over!
I Went to Summer Camp
Miss P and I were away last week at summer camp.
This was our third year attending Blue Lake Family Suzuki Camp. P has liked it so much in the past that this year we signed up for two sessions.
I was able to get a bit of knitting and hexie sewing done during her lessons and classes. I even finished this sock that I started about two years ago!
I'm glad we stayed for the second session this time. Miss P worked hard and got her "polished piece" even more polished. She was chosen to perform in the student recital the second session. Yes, this girl and her cello,
performed on this stage.
She was over the moon with excitement and played beautifully.It was fun to see so many cellists playing at the same time in the final concert. The older students are a great inspiration for the younger ones. The campers are all ages up to 19 years old. The older students are to the right of this view; youngers are off to the left. I couldn't get them all in one shot. Can you tell she was having fun?
She's a nut.
Field Trip
We had a "home school" day and took Miss P on a field trip to the U of M Arboretum to see the peonies today. The Nichols Arboretum Peony Garden is the largest public collection of historic (pre-1950) herbaceous peony cultivars in North America.It was a lovely morning; the sun was not high yet and the air was filled with the scent of the flowers. They were beautiful and I took many photos. I had a very hard time narrowing down the photos to share. I'll share a bit of our flower tour with you.Enjoy.
Scenes from the Weekend
I'm so happy to be caught up and finished with my big project. I'll share more about that with you later.The combination of the "big project", the worst winter ever in southeast Michigan, and family stress over various things including selling my mother-in-law's home have not made me feel like going out much with my camera in the last months. This weekend I feel like I have been reacquainted with an old friend. We had beautiful weather and I was out with the camera finding beautiful and interesting things to photograph. It felt good.
The boys were home for Mother's Day. Here are a few scenes from the day.
Mid-Century Home
Hello again. I'm just letting you guys know, in case any of you might be looking for a house in the DC area. B's mom's house just went on the market this week.
It is located in the W.T. Woodson school district in Fairfax, VA.
You can take a virtual tour or if you are in the DC area, attend the open house on May 10.The one acre yard is filled with different flowers for blooms throught the spring and summer. The back yard has the world's best swing.B's parents built the house in 1961. Here are some photos of the house back then.Read more about the house here.
Good Things
So many good things to share today.
It seems we have survived the longest winter and there is hope for spring. I've continued to take photos of these chairs all winter and have them collected in a set for easy viewing on flickr. I image these may be fun to see again sometime in August, but maybe not. It was a beautiful sunny day today and we lost a great deal of snow. There are still patches of snow scattered around as you can see above. It may even all melt before April!And look what else we found today!!!Snow drops.
There is hope for spring after all.I enjoyed some company in the sewing room today from my future daughter-in-law. Each of us working on our own projects. Yay for multiple featherweights.Duncan was also helping with featherweight tune ups in preparations for summer camps and classes.B has been getting the bikes tuned up for tomorrows bike ride.And maybe even better than all of that.... my son came up with the BEST quilt design for my next quilt in the pile. I hope I can pull it off. It will be PERFECT for the design. I won't be able to share it with you for a while, but believe me, it's a GENIUS design. Thanks Duncan! (eta. His idea was the giant knitting design on Off The Charts Quilt in my book)
Most Snow EVER
It's official, southeast Michigan has had the snowiest January on record. Crazy.
We've had our share of snow, cold, wind, and snow drifts.B has been enjoying the snow for skiing. He even got Miss P her own ski gear this week. Here she is having her first lesson on Saturday.
I walked the fields with them yesterday.
We came up on a rafter of turkeys. They flew up in the air and landed in the tree tops in the distance. B says he often surprises them when he is out on his skis.
I've been keeping busy but not posting here as often. I'll continue to share the big news here but Instagram is so much easier for quick "behind the scenes" posts. So, if you miss me over here, follow me on instagram - I'm LynnCarsonHarris there.I've been trying to do some secret sewing but it seems I'm having a hard time keeping up with that too. I do hope to be back here on a more regular basis when the warmer weather hits. For now, I need to go throw a few more logs in the woodstove and do a little stitching.I hope you are keeping warm (or cool if you are in the southern hemisphere) and doing things you enjoy. What are your favorite winter activities?
January Doings
We are back from a week of cleaning out and preparing my mother-in-law's house to go on the market. It's a lovely mid century home in northern Virginia. After all the cleaning and moving there and seeing the house stripped down to just the basics, I'm inspired to declutter my own home. I'll never get it THIS empty unless we move out. Still, I think purging a bit of our own clutter will be good for us.We took part of a day and rode the metro into DC and did a bit of sight seeing around the Smithsonian.My pick of the day was to see the "Workt by Hand" exhibit. It was a wonderful exhibit. I only wish they had allowed photography. I did buy the book but haven't read it through yet.
Miss P loves the Natural History museum.
Winter Break
Our winter break is fast coming to an end. We have enjoyed our time away from the routine of work and school.
We had a bit of snow, played games, stayed up too late, and slept in a lot.I am eager to see where the New Year takes us.
Colonial Halloween
Miss P finished her costume last night just after bed time. Whew. She thought it was a lot of work and there may have been some unhappy words at the thought of HAND sewing the snaps and inner ties. In the end she did the hand sewing and was THRILLED to have done it herself.She told me this morning that she thought she was smiling in her sleep all night!
She put one of her dress up tutus on underneath to give it a little fullness at the top of the skirt; it was pretty droopy without the extra fluff.It is a good thing that the dress is long because we didn't have time to complete the look with period footwear.
A colonial dress has been on her wish list since our visit to Colonial Williamsburg two years ago. I am happy that SHE is happy.The pattern is from my vintage children's sewing pattern collection.edit to add- I helped speed things along by using the ruffler foot on the featherweight to gather/ruffle the lace. She glue basted the lace to the front panel before stitching - that was much easier than stitching the wiggly pinned lace.
Halloween Costume Pattern - from the Archives
Miss Petunia wants to make her own Halloween costume this year. She chose this pattern from my vintage collection and we ordered the paisley fabric online.My job while she is at school today is to make a "muslin" of the bodice so that we can have a fitting after school. She will make the final version herself.
Counting the Days
We are taking the day off to celebrate! Today B turns 18,000 days old.We have also known each other 11,111 days - today!And, because I know you guys love a good photo, here's a photo I took yesterday of some sap on our plum tree.
Miss P is waiting for this to turn to amber. How many days do you think that will take?
Fall Harvest
Yesterday was a fall garden day which involved lots of weeding, digging, compost, and moving plants around.Today was a grape juice day.
September
It seems that September has come and gone in a blur. I haven't posted much at all. We've adjusted to the school schedule and are enjoying the lovely fall weather.
Miss P has been wanting to wax leaves again so she and I went out this morning hunting for some colorful leaves.
It is a bit early yet for the colorful maples but we did find a few small leaves to dip in wax today. I'm sure we'll try again in a few weeks.We've done a bit of canning and other fall activities as well as had a birthday party that required 22 candles!
I hope to get some sewing done as the weather gets colder and we spend less time outside. I do have a Halloween costume to make. I should get started on that!!
Summer Vacation!
We have had a long summer saying a very sweet, sad, and loving goodbye to my dear mother-in-law. I am lucky to have known her and love that she was a presence in my life and that my children grew up spending time with her while they grew up. She did not have an easy life, but always kept a cheerful attitude and positive outlook. She was a hard person to bring down and I strive to be like her in that way.Now that things are settling down a bit we thought we should take a quick get away before starting back into the school routine this week.One of the great things about living in Michigan is that we are never very far from a beach. We really needed the change of scenery and our little twenty four hour vacation seemed longer than that because we were some place different and had no distractions.
The beach was a fitting place for our getaway. We visited the beach with B's mother a number of times over the years. We treasure those memories and also strive to create new family memories for our children.We came back refreshed and much more ready to start the new school year. Sometimes you just need to go take a walk on the beach!
Lego Sewing Room
Look at this Lego diorama Miss P built of my sewing room. There I am standing at the longarm. Behind me is my desk with the (very large) computer on it. To the right of my desk is my cutting table. In the background you can see the fabric cabinet and a RED Bernina. It would be pretty cool if I really had a red sewing machine, wouldn't it?
First Day of the Fair
Miss P and I enjoyed the first day of the local fair yesterday.It was all kicked off with a kids bike parade from downtown to the fairgrounds. The middle school band leads the way for all the kids and their decorated bikes.
Many of the kids get dressed up in costumes. This year there was even someone riding a unicycle.It is fun because so many of the kids in town participate and they get to see their friends. The parade goes at a walking speed and can be a bit challenging for new bike riders so miss P chose to scooter in the parade this year.Some of the first events at the fair are a "trike pull" where the kids try to pull jugs of water in a milk crate tied to the back of a tricycle. There's a treasure hunt where you hunt for coins in a big pile of sawdust, and also the sack races.After the fun and games in the kids arena we went to check on our entries. P was thrilled that she won a blue ribbon on her geranium top. I guess those french seams paid off!
We did well with our entries. Everything we entered won a ribbon and all but one was blue! The kids hobby section can be very competitive.
I love looking at all the entries.Next, we headed off to see the animals and use our ride tickets that P won from the kids activities! She is a big fan of the carousel so she has to do that every year. Last year she tried the big slide but wasn't quite heavy enough to make it down without stopping. She was pleased to have a fun ride down the slide this time.We always finish the evening with a ride on the Ferris wheel just as it is getting dark and the lights have come on.
The fair is a great event for our community and a wonderful way to start winding down our summer vacation.
8000 Days
My oldest child is 8000 days old today!
We'll use any excuse for a party! 8000 days - that's certainly worth celebrating. Miss P is baking her brother a cake!
Family Time
The pie was delicious.
We worked a 1000 piece puzzle, played badminton, ate watermelon, dinner on the grill, more badminton, a few other games and crafts, blueberry pie, more badminton, a few songs on the player piano, and smores over a "camp" fire - overall it was a pretty stellar day.Also, have any of you locals noticed that we seem to have almost NO mosquitoes this summer??? This is quite a pleasant change from the past few summers when the mosquitoes have kept us prisoners in the house.I hope you had a great Fourth of July too.
